Hampton Adopts New Holiday Rules

HAMPTON — Jewish students in Hampton schools no longer have to worry that missing classes for religious holidays will hurt their grades or prohibit them from participating in school programs.

After listening to speeches by Jewish students as well as discussing the issue with leaders of the local Jewish community, the School Board on Wednesday night changed attendance policies that Jews said discriminated against them.

One policy called for students to fail a class automatically after 10 absences. Students could appeal the failure, but that would require special meetings with a principal or school committee.

Absences for religious holidays could be excused at the special meetings, but students would still have to go through the process.

Jewish students complained that the policy put them through unnecessary trauma.

"The embarrassment and shame we feel having to plead our cases over our sacred holidays is uncalled for," said Chana Rowan, who will be a sophomore at Kecoughtan High School in the fall. "The discrimination over our holy days leaves us feeling degraded and challenged. Why should we have to justify ourselves for what we believe in?"

Under another policy, a student with an "A" average in a class would be exempt from taking the semester-end exam as long as he missed no more than four classes during a semester. A student with a "B" average would be exempt if he missed no more than two classes.

Days missed for religious holidays would count as absences under that policy, school officials said.

Jewish students must miss as many 10 days of school in some semesters to observe holidays including Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah and Passover. Those days were counted against the students under the old exam exemption policy, which meant Jews were often unable to take advantage of it.

"I, as an observant Jew, am being discriminated against because of my religious beliefs," Robyn Rowan told the School Board. Robyn, Chana's sister, will be a senior at Kecoughtan in the fall.

Jewish families previously argued that the school policies favored Christians because those students don't have to worry about missing school on Christmas or Easter.

With the changes made Wednesday night, students who miss school for religious holidays will not be considered absent.

After making the exceptions for religious holidays, the board sent the policies back to a committee for further review. New policies, with the changes, will be in place by the start of the school year, board Chairman Albert "Pat" Patrick said.